After thieves broke into his jewelry repair kiosk's safe at the Auburn Mall, Hieu Ly got a visit from employees of Simon Properties, the giant real estate company that owns the mall.

Mr. Ly said Simon officials asked why he didn't have a video surveillance camera that would have recorded the crime, which occurred two years ago.

“I said, 'why don't you have a camera? You're a big company. I'm just a small business owner,' ” Mr. Ly said.

The businessman — who says he and his customers would feel safer with security cameras — is not the only critic of security practices at the aging regional mall with 60 stores near the intersection of the Massachusetts Turnpike, Interstates 290 and 395, and Routes 12 and 20.

Auburn Police Chief Andrew J. Sluckis Jr. has been pushing Simon officials for the last few years to install video surveillance cameras at main entrances to the mall buildings and parking areas. He says the footage would help his officers locate suspects and catch criminals who have preyed on the mall — which has been victimized by some major robberies in recent years — perhaps because of its location near major highways.

But the multibillion dollar company, the largest mall owner in the country, has refused, the chief says.

“They have the money and they simply choose not to,” the chief said. “If they couldn't afford to do it, that would be one thing, but we're looking at a company with billions of dollars in assets, and with the phenomenal level of technology these days, the question is why they choose not to do anything.”

The Auburn Mall's manager referred a reporter to Jillian Kuzyk, an account executive for Regan Communications, Simon's Boston public relations firm. Ms. Kuzyk declined to directly answer questions about Mr. Ly's account or security at the Auburn Mall or any Simon mall in Central Massachusetts.

“Simon/Auburn Mall's top priority is the safety and security of the shoppers. Both the mall and its security work closely with local law enforcement to ensure safety and appropriate security measures are taken at all times,” Ms. Kuzyk said in an emailed statement. “Simon does not disclose specific details on security measures and programs and keeps these measures private, which is in the public's best interest.”

In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings and the success of video footage in helping catch the suspects, Auburn police officials say there is now all the more incentive for Simon to firm up security at its properties.

A New York Times-CBS News poll done last week after the attacks found that Americans overwhelmingly support installing video surveillance cameras in public places.

While the large Macy's and Sears anchor stores, and a few other retails outlets at the Auburn Mall, are outfitted with many highly visible video cameras, the common areas, main entrances and parking lots have none, Auburn police officials say.

“There are areas in the mall that we'd like to have the opportunity to solve crimes that occur in those areas, and there's nothing more compelling than video,” said Auburn Police Lt. Mark Maass.

Meanwhile, Simon has stopped hiring Auburn police officers to staff private details at the malls on weekend nights, a move that has put the chief further at odds with the company. Simon has also cut back on hiring Marlboro detail officers to guard the Simon-owned Solomon Pond Mall on weekends, according Marlboro Police Chief Mark Leonard.

Kathleen A. Daly, a spokeswoman for the Worcester Police Department, said private police details are assigned to the Simon-owned Greendale Mall during the holiday season, from the end of November to the end of January (as they are at Simon's other areas malls).

Police records show about 200 incidents a year at the Greendale Mall that require police service, with 25 to 35 arrests per year.

“We encourage all businesses to take security measures including the use of surveillance cameras,” Ms. Daly said. “Currently, there are no public safety concerns regarding that location.”

Several employees of stores at the Auburn Mall, who asked not to be identified because they feared angering their employers, said they would feel more protected with the addition of video cameras. One worker said employees sometimes feel vulnerable parking behind the main building in the dark.

Visual inspections by the Telegram & Gazette revealed no visible cameras in the indoor and outdoor common areas of the Auburn and Greendale malls, and only a handful outside the considerably larger Solomon Pond Mall, which straddles the Marlboro-Berlin line. Security experts say the use of hidden cameras in commercial settings is nearly non-existent because of poor image quality and limited range.

The Auburn Mall generates about 600 calls for police officers and 160 arrests a year — mostly for shoplifting — and is the single biggest user of police services in the town, one of Worcester's biggest suburbs.

The traditional enclosed mall, built in 1971, has two major anchor department stores, but has been overshadowed in recent years by the newer Shoppes at Blackstone Valley mall several miles away in Millbury. In contrast to the Simon malls that have cut back on police details, at the Millbury mall on weekends, numerous officers are stationed at prominent intersections directing traffic.

At another modern mall, Northborough Crossing, which opened last year, numerous security cameras were clearly evident on the façade of the mall's main anchor store, Wegmans, and inside the supermarket.

Unlike the Simon malls, large sections of the Northborough Crossing parking lots are studded with cameras and signs alerting customers to video surveillance. Similarly, at the new Walmart superstore and Sam's Club, off Route 146 in Worcester, bunches of security cameras are mounted on the rooflines of the buildings — monitoring entrances, parking areas and the main roads into the shopping complex.

But at the Auburn Mall, a succession of mall managers have balked at installing a camera surveillance system, though one manager said he would consider seeking some kind of a grant for one camera at a main entrance but never followed up, Chief Sluckis said.

Several security consultants who spoke with the Telegram & Gazette said there may well be solid economic and technological reasons for Simon's apparent reluctance to invest in surveillance cameras at its older malls.

The Solomon Pond Mall was built in 1996. Simon bought Greendale in 1999.

Andy Wendt, vice president Camera Security Now, an Atlanta company that sells video surveillance systems to businesses and publishes a blog about the topic, said many older malls lack the wiring infrastructure and drop ceilings that would make wiring cameras to monitors easier.

“The problem with malls is they're so spread out that the cost of installation gets crazy,” Mr. Wendt said.

He estimated the cost per camera, including wiring and labor, at about $1,000. While some larger retail operations, such as department stores, have employees who watch banks of video monitors in real time, the latest video systems can alert owners to suspicious activities via text or email alerts, Mr. Wendt said.

Police officials, meanwhile, say that while video footage is useful after crimes, visible cameras would also help deter crime and unruly behavior.

“Now, you'd be a fool not to build these malls without it,” said Richard Rand, a retired state police lieutenant who owns a private investigation company in Northboro. “You want to be safe, and you expect these things. And as you can see with the marathon, they did what they were supposed to do.”

However, Mr. Rand and other security experts caution that video surveillance is not a panacea.

They noted that small and midsize malls, especially in the suburbs, are not usually beset by serious and violent crime and probably don't warrant major investments in new security systems, from the mall owner's perspective.

“It's not a small question to put a camera system in,” said David Levenberg, president of Center Security Services in Los Angeles and an expert witness in legal cases involving security. “Sometimes it's OK not to have cameras. That decision should be based on a pretty comprehensive risk analysis.

“I know Simon has a very good overall security operation,” Mr. Levenberg continued. “I'd be surprised if they had not done an analysis of this center to see if the expense is worthwhile.”

Contact Shaun Sutner at ssutner@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @ssutner.

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